Xiyu Janet Lin, Hyo Joo Kim share lead at U.S. Women's Open - ESPN

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Xiyu Janet Lin and Hyo Joo Kim had rounds that matched the beauty at Pebble Beach, each of them with a 4-under 68 on Thursday to share the lead in the first U.S. Women's Open held at one of America's most famous courses.

With only mild wind and a marine layer over the Monterey Peninsula that kept temperatures in the 50s, this was the gentle version of Pebble Beach. This also is a U.S. Open, and it didn't take much to take a toll, especially at the top.

The top four players in the world ranking were a combined 22-over par. Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in women's golf, and Lilia Vu, who won the first LPGA major of the year, each shot 79.

Rose Zhang, the 20-year-old Stanford sensation who won in her pro debut last month, wasted a good start with a double bogey on the eighth hole that slowed her momentum. She didn't make a birdie the rest of the way, and had to chip on her last four holes — one of them from the wrong side of the green on the par-3 17th just as Gary Woodland did in 2019 when he won the U.S. Open.

Lin began her round on the tough par-4 10th hole, and she saved par on four of her opening five holes before holing an 8-foot birdie putt on the 15th. The Chinese player's lone bogey came at the end when she failed to get up-and-down from short of a bunker on No. 9.

«At the beginning, putting definitely saved me,» said Lin, who took only 25 putts and was leading the field in the key putting statistic. «Making those short putts really kind of boosted my confidence, making me feel more comfortable to attack when I needed to.»

Kim, whose lone major was the Evian Championship in 2014, was 4 under through eight holes until her lone bogey at No. 9. She made only one birdie the rest of the day,